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How was your cycle commute?

Even the Daily Mirror can't get it right

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a_chap said:
You aren't supposed to "know". You are supposed to think.

Where might that cyclist be going?
What happens if he swerves suddenly?
Am I driving TOO FUCKING CLOSE?
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I was not close - I was in another lane! He suddenly changed lanes (at an exit -he was on the outside lane) and cycled right in front of me-it was he that came close! I'm always really aware of cyclists as there are loads in Bristol..as for where he was going...well that is the point...it looked as though he Suddenly changed his mind at the last minute about exiting...I was watching him the whole time - if I had not been so aware then I might have run him over!! Like anything else on the road you need to give other users some idea of where you are headed and not take stupid risks.
 
Orang Utan said:
I also have a problem on one roundabout, next to the Woolwich ferry. I need to go straight across it (2nd exit), so I get in the middle of the two lanes, so no one thinks I am turning at the first exit and cuts across me (that happened the first time I attempted to cross it). But still the odd car seems to think I am turning and cut across me anyway. Luckily they are going slow enough to avoid me, but it's scary. Am I supposed to indicate right on a roundabout? I am also loathe to take one hand on my bike on a right curve whilst negotiating busy traffic.
Sorry, Kali, but it sounds like you were going too fast not to consider that the cyclist in front of you might be about to get off the roundabout. Though I am having trouble imagining the situation admittedly. Was he deep in the inner lane? As I said, I sort of keep in between the lanes, so they don't know what I'm going to and therefore hold back a bit.
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There are four lanes on this roundabout he was in the outside one I was in the next one-so he was in the wrong lane to begin with for the exit that he eventually decided on! I was not going very fast as it morning drive time and it gets quite congested.
 
I always use the underpass - but it's usually late morning on a weekend ...

An unfortunate fact is that some people may have been taught to cycle like that - ditto waiting on the edge of the road to cross the road and turn right - along with the ubiquitous cycling in the gutter - and there are roundabouts with "cycle lanes" all around the outside edge.
 
I have only once used an underpass. It was flooded to about a foot deep. And it had a smashed portable tv in it.

I tend not to use cycle routes and lanes, they seem to be designed to kill cyclists
 
I always found the St. Pauls roundabout a challenge even in a car or on a motorcycle as it is at the end of an urban motorway and a dual carriageway where excessive speed is even more likely than usual.
 
Are cycle routes in Bristol nice and wide and well maintained and debris free? I tend to cycle on the outside of them in London as they are cracked and covered in sharp things. And they often have vehicles parked in them.
 
kalidarkone said:
There are four lanes on this roundabout he was in the outside one I was in the next one-so he was in the wrong lane to begin with for the exit that he eventually decided on! I was not going very fast as it morning drive time and it gets quite congested.
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Ok, sounds like very risky behaviour on the cyclist's part
 
kalidarkone said:
There are four lanes on this roundabout he was in the outside one I was in the next one-so he was in the wrong lane to begin with for the exit that he eventually decided on! I was not going very fast as it morning drive time and it gets quite congested.
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To be fair the Highway Code does say that cyclists can keep to the left hand lane regardless of their intended exit. I tend to take the same route as a car though to avoid confusing drivers.
 
Orang Utan said:
Are cycle routes in Bristol nice and wide and well maintained and debris free? I tend to cycle on the outside of them in London as they are cracked and covered in sharp things. And they often have vehicles parked in them.
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The St Pauls underpass on Saturday 31/3/2012 - see if you can spot an entirely different sort of obstruction near the end :-



I reckon you need a well-maintained MTB with tough tyres in a city environment.
 
gentlegreen said:
The St Pauls underpass on Saturday 31/3/2012 - see if you can spot an entirely different sort of obstruction near the end :-



I reckon you need a well-maintained MTB with tough tyres in a city environment.
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Yeah that guy...quite often see him in that exact spot having a rest....

The other bug bear I have with the underpass/cycle lane is both pedestrians and cyclists walking /cycling in the wrong lanes, especially when going through the tunnels. People that let their kids wander into the cycle lane:rolleyes:
 
Deliberately short, both yesterday and today, given the fuck-off coldness of it all. I did have a cuntish driver both days though; yesterday it was someone pulling alongside me at the front at a traffic light. I knocked on his window and pointed out my need for more width for when I started moving again - you go from side to side a little standing up from a standing start - upon which I think he offered to take my fucking head off or something. A well-reasoned argument I'm sure you'll agree.

This morning, again at a traffic light, I went into the cyclists' box in front of the traffic you get at some junctions in the left hand lane, before a car pulls into the right hand lane version. I motioned that he shouldn't do that, but he just ignored me.

I really ought to curb my self-righteousness when on two wheels.
 
Too cold for me - certainly in terms of recreational riding.
I just managed 20 minutes of maintenance before I lost the feeling in my fingers.
I'm hoping the sun makes a showing on Wednesday when I will probably have the day off ...
 
TBH it was too cold for me too. After only 10km I started to lose the feeling in my toes. After that it just got worse and eventually both my feet were really painful. And that makes pedalling a real pain. I had to stop at about 70 miles just to try to get some life back into my feet. A bit of a test of character when you know you still have more than 50 miles to go and it's getting colder.

At least it felt colder after the snow flurries stopped!

Roll on summer...
 
Temperatures comfortable enough today, but grey and a bit drizzly.

Astounding number of Ninjas on the railway path - something like 50 percent - and it was busy on the way home.
If only the fuzz could be arsed to get down the city end and catch them. They surely don't all get off and push ?

School run madness back in force so I had the usual impatient tosser illegally overtake me around the back of Frenchay hospital into the path of an oncoming car to get to the back of the queue earlier.
If I hadn't also flashed my high beam, who knows, he might have assumed it was the other car and taken more notice ...
 
Didn't commute, but went shopping on my bike today and noticed how differently people ride from a standstill out of traffic lights. Couldn't help but think people who have to stand up to launch themselves are cheating a little bit. They're either in the wrong gear, need more work on their calves or have one of those stupidbikes. :D
 
gentlegreen said:
Temperatures comfortable enough today, but grey and a bit drizzly.

Astounding number of Ninjas on the railway path - something like 50 percent - and it was busy on the way home.
If only the fuzz could be arsed to get down the city end and catch them. They surely don't all get off and push ?

School run madness back in force so I had the usual impatient tosser illegally overtake me around the back of Frenchay hospital into the path of an oncoming car to get to the back of the queue earlier.
If I hadn't also flashed my high beam, who knows, he might have assumed it was the other car and taken more notice ...
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Do you 'have' to use lights, if not on the road?
 
joustmaster said:
Do you 'have' to use lights, if not on the road?
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Unfortunately no.
I'm annoyed with the pedestrians to be fair.
The railway path has very subdued lighting - just enough to make it non-lethal for people without lights that light up the way ahead. I do, because part of my commute is on unlit roads and paths.
I miss my 10 watt fluorescent lantern - it was almost perfect.
What having lights does is allow me to detect pedestrians when I'm overtaking - by the way they modulate cyclists' lights - and of course when these idiot noobs are wobbling around pedestrians themselves.

But none of these people live and work immediately adjacent to this path, so what's the score ?
I'm fed up to the teeth with being grouped in the minds of the motoring public with idiots like this who just happen to have chosen a pushbike for transport.
They aren't "cyclists" - well not like the ones I choose to socialise with.
 
There was a fixie at work with a broken chain the other day.
I haven't had a chain break on my geared bike for decades.
Fat chance of a hipster having a chain tool and spare links - and you can't shorten it.
Naturally I do.
 
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